Approximately 1,000,000 BC- 100,000 BC: Some mutated Homo erectus (or perhaps prototypical Homo sapiens) of this time in central Java may be capable of complex reasoning and even spoken language

The size and shape of the brains implied by their fossil skulls in the later 20th century will indicate intellectual capacities very close to that of 20th century humanity.

The significance here is the early end of the time range. If any sizeable number of people possessed true language skills as early as one million BC then late 20th century humanity will be guilty of severely underestimating the capacities of prehistoric peoples-- and the probability of one or more lost civilizations equipped with various advanced attributes will zoom upward.

Another intriguing possibility comes from the opposite end of the time period. For if these people were mutated Homo erectus existing as late as 100,000 BC, then they were in some sense an alternative human race in competition with our own forebears to conquer the planet. In other words, there would have really been two separate human (or near-human races) on the planet at once. Add in the Neanderthals and you get three.

-- Hominid Fossil Says Plenty By Christine Soares, Special to ABCNEWS.com, http://www.abc.com, found or or about 9-7-99